What do Cristina, Michele, Joubin and Lorenzo have in common? They don’t sleep as much as they would like.
Nor do they hang around with their friends, enjoying the pleasure of a stroll in the park or a beer at the pub, as much as their young age would seem to warrant. The reason for this apparent injustice is referred to - very fashionably – as the start-up. Their idea, their passion, their job, their future
. The word might seem a little overused, but in London has a real significance. “Usually a start-up is simply an idea, innovative and often in the technological field”, says Cristina Bonaccurso, CEO and founder of Ringpay. “It generally involves a small group of people with no money. Finances for these projects are to be found among those who cultivate and nourish the ideas of others”.
Cristina didn’t even have the idea, but she was able to recognise one. “I was in Berlin for a hackathon. I saw a guy wandering around with his laptop, who told me he had developed an app to allow payments from a smartphone. He showed me a demo—it looked fantastic, and it hooked me. That very evening we started a partnership: he would be the nerd, the developer, I would take care of the communication. Someone suggested we show the app to Eric Van der Kleij, boss of London Tech-City”. “We wrote an email, he replied and gave us an appointment. He was immediately impressed by the demo. We talked while he took notes on his iPad. Van der Kleij taking notes while I was speaking! I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
There was no need for a second meeting. At the end of the conversation the two young Italian nerds had convinced the big boss. “He liked the idea, no doubt,” Cristina adds. “But above all he liked the passion, the attitude, which is what the angels want”.
“But above all he liked the passion, the attitude, which is what the angels want”.
in her office at the 39th floor at Canary Wharf, with a 360º view over London. She couldn’t believe her luck. Since then I’ve been here day and night, more or less. But it’s wonderful: I have contacts, help and support. We do not know yet if our idea is going to work, but here they support ideas with potential. And when your company is ready, they put you in contact with investors. What really matters is proactivity. Nobody checks up on you, and if you are not strong enough, if you are not able to leave your comfort-zone, you’ll never make it”. Ringpay is about to be launched as a beta-test. If it arrives on the market, paying will be a one-to-one issue; no need for a till, a credit card, cash. Payments will take few seconds to go through. No waiting, no card, no queues. Ringpay is not live yet, but it already has a little sister, Charing, which collects donations for charities through smartphones. Two partners, two start-ups, in a matter of months. Something similar happened with Netberg, founded by brothers Michele and Claudio, together with Joubin Nouri, Italian with Iranian origins, and Lorenzo Rando.
